Yakunin said that he has recently met the US ambassador to Russia. "Most of the discussion was focused on cooperation with American companies," Yakunin said. The day before he met the US ambassador, Yakunin had talked to representatives of the American business, and "all of them expressed their elated, positive attitude to prospects of cooperation with the Russian Railways," Yakunin said.

Vladimir Yakunin is on two sanction lists of Russian citizens who fell under sanctions imposed by the west. Yakunin was blacklisted in the United States and Australia, but no sanctions were imposed against the Russian Railways company.